Malaysia faces a huge task to repair the damage from disastrous floods, the prime minister said today, as boats and helicopters ferried supplies to nearly 100,000 people displaced by the crisis.

However, with the rains beginning to ease, evacuees started returning to their homes, and the number of people sheltering in relief centres fell to 94,152, down from a peak of some 110,000 on Monday, officials said.

Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi travelled by helicopter and boat to reach the worst-hit district of Kota Tinggi in Johor, which is almost completely submerged.

Abdullah said federal and state authorities must join hands to help evacuees return to their homes, and ensure that shops and businesses were reopened.

"It's going to be a momentous task," he was quoted as saying by the state Bernama news agency. "What I saw during my tour ... is the urgent need for efforts to restore the evacuees' living conditions."

The number of evacuees has eased in Pahang, also affected by rains, to 3,520, while Sabah has 2,696 displaced, officials said.

Police at Johor's flood operations centre said aid supplies were reaching all affected areas, while reports said boats, trucks and helicopters were taking food, blankets, clothing and other essential supplies to victims.

Lookout for contagious diseases

The escalation in the relief effort comes after criticism that evacuation centres were overwhelmed, and that some were forced to ration food supplies.

Health officials are also on the lookout for waterborne and other contagious diseases after two people in Johor died of leptospirosis, which is spread by animal urine.

The meteorology department today eased back its rain warning for Johor and Pahang from its highest "red stage" alert, instead forecasting light to moderate rains until Saturday.

However, heavy rains were expected to continue in parts of Sabah until Saturday, it said.

Eighteen people have died so far in the floods, including 15 in Johor in the first wave of the crisis, which hit in December. Government estimates have estimated the damage at more than RM100 million.